06 June 2011

Darul Akhyar (Pt 1) – A pilot project

In the absence of an official explaination I would translate this expression as ‘Home for the Elite’.



View from outside

The religious department of Terengganu known as MAIDAM ( Majlis Agama Islam Dan Adat Melayu) has for the first time built and will operate a home for ‘anak anak fakir dan yatim’ ( poor children and orphans). There are other homes in Terengganu, but they are run by NGO’s, and they serve orphans exclusively. Darul Akhyar, on the other hand, is built for the very poor, orphans and others alike, with emphasis on their education. This new approach is as a very positive and welcome development in the state.




On the entrance wall

This pilot project is sited on a four-acre ground and the complex is capable of accommodating up to 200 children of both sexes. However, only about 100 children have been selected from the length and breadth of the state to be the fore-runners of this special home.Slightly more than half of the first intake are children from poor homes as against the orphans.



Inside view - One of two dorms



Another view




Surau

These children will register at Darul Akhyar in a few days’ time. That is before the end of the current school holidays. When the new terms starts on 12th June in Terengganu, these children will be attending form 1, form2 and form 4 at two secondary schools in the vicinity.

It will be interesting to follow the development of this new project.

To be continued …….



Berkhidmat kerana Tuhan untuk kemanusiaan


P/s:


The signage at the entrance reads " --- anak yatim". That is not intended to be.

18 comments:

Unknown said...

This is a very good project to the the poor.

Temuk said...

Assalamu'alaikum AL-MANAR
That's a great and noble project. Given good facilities and proper guidance, insya-Allah, those children would do well in school and in life later on. Tabik hebat to the Terengganu government!

Al-Manar said...

Wan,
There should be more of this in places like rural of Sarawak.

Al-Manar said...

Temuk,

What often happens is getting the infrastructure completed but is left without having in place people who are able and willing to implement. We have seen too many of these good ideas abandoned.

sintaicharles said...

What a good gesture. Orphans need our love and care.

Cat-from-Sydney said...

Dear Pakcik,
The project looks awesome. We hope it will achieve its objectives. What's more important than the posh infrastructure is the contents - the pengisian. purrr....meow!

Cheqna said...

Assalamualaikum Pak Cik,

Alhamdulillah..great project..hope it will achieve the target of helping the poor and needy..May the chosen children be successful in their future, now and hereafter.

Btw, hope you and family are in good health..sorry for not visiting here a for awhile..been slightly busy with this and that.

Al-Manar said...

Sintaicharles,

Children from poor families and orphans must be given whatever help they need in education.

Al-Manar said...

C-f-S,

Indeed impressive infrastructure is not the true worth of a project. What comes next is the question.

Al-Manar said...

Cheqna,

We have been expecting you to call on us. Have you not been home to KT lately?
Do not work too hard. Come home and enjoy a bit of Terengganu life before the monsoon starts again.

Wan Sharif said...

Hoping against hope that the project is not there so that someone can built the infrastructure... Maidam is not made up of teachers/lecturers/ professors ecetera.. hopefully they can garner enough dedicated people to implement the project.
Have seen Financial park (in Tax-free haven of Labuan) project carried out by Bank Negara that has so far been laid to waste (mostly).. my 2 sen opinion.

Pak Idrus said...

PokCik Hassan, Let me use this opportunity to thanks you for taking Asmah and I into your home at Batu Rakit when we was in KT two weeks ago. I believe you did touch on this subject when we were discussing many things that lovely day in you beautiful home.

It is definitely good that they started such a project but what concern me most is what sort of program are they going to do in such place. To me it is better for the kids to be with their parents rather then living in a hostel. I am against kids living in boarding houses since it take away the love of parenting from such an early age. Anyway I do hope they would give those kids living there good education and loving care.

Is the medium of intrusion be in English which is much lacking nowadays or at least the second language. Have they thought of the kind of library they should have. To me there should be a good library and must be filled with good books in English and BM. So that the kids could be exposed with more knowledge all days long. To me having a huge building is not enough, the content of that building must be of the right kind.

Have they though of getting the best teachers who are dedicated to teach and warden who are good at parenting!. This place is going to be the kids's home and school so it is important that the right person be in-charge all day long so that the kids who graduate from this school would not only do well in their school subjects but a good person as well.

Tale care.

Al-Manar said...

Ayah Wang,

In planning we see all the good things ahead. It is too often we stop short at spending good money for a good white elephant standing in memory of its planner who probably by then prefers to remain incognito.

Al-Manar said...

Pak Idrus,

You speak through experience, having seen so much of social ills during your service. There is no real substitute to parental care and love. Concerned organisations see the answer differently. It is better to gather the chldren for proper food, care and education rather than leaving them at the mercy of harsh environments. It is a dilemma. But as you point it out the facilty provided must never be less than adequate with the person-in-charge possessing the correct know-how.

I like your well-thought views.By the way Salmah and I hope we have not seen the last of you two.

Ummie said...

Mr Al-Manar,
I can feel you.
JB is knowm to have the most white elephants.
It pains to know of families went broke to let 'the few others' multiply their riches.

Pak Idrus,
I want to share what I have, basis & daily English,
& library of books at home for neighbourhood kids.
But when you are non-local, classes you are allocated to by concerned parents, set up for many, many, many years need transitioning.

I was hoping when we delivered from the heart, it's from these upper people hearts too, for the goodness of these students, they found locals to fill in the void.

But that's not the case.
The class was closed down for good.

Al-Manar said...

Ummie,

Thank you for your input

Pak Idrus said...

Ummie, thanks. To me just gives with love and love would return in abundance.

As for the tuition that you offered do not be dishearten. Just put a signage on your front door with words like 'Free tuition in English or whatever subject' and believe me there would be taker. Take that kids into your home and allows it to browse your library and give him/her the tuition. At the same time teach those kids the norm and value of good living. At the same time thanks their parents for allowing their kids to venture into your home.

Take one step a time and believe me even if only one kid comes and get the benefit of your volunteer service, to me it is as good as giving a thousand kids the same service. There should be no indoctrination but only education all the way and your program should be open to all Malaysian.

Take care.

affanese said...

i like the word of 'Berkhidmat kerana Tuhan untuk kemanusiaan'..very meaningfull